Automatic boiler-feeder



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

1? M ASHLEY AUTOMATIC BOILER FEEDER.

Patented Mar. '14, 1893.

WITNESSES:

YNE NORRIS PETERS ca, mumumu, WASHNGTON, a. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. ASHLEY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC BOILER-FEEDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 493,237, dated March14, 1893. Application filed January 13, I891. Serial No. 377,614. (Nomodel.)

and out of operation a pump or injector for boilers; and it consists ofa water column hav- 1ng within one or more floats and valve mech-' anismprovided with suitable ways and connecting pipes, leading to a cylinderhaving a piston rod attached to the pump or injector lever, whereby thestage of the water in the boiler will cause the steam to enter the cylinder and move the lever back and forth in the proper direction; and italso provides for constructing the column and pump operating mechanismtogether in one device so that the whole can be made complete at thefactory and adjusted preparatory to shipment.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a central vertical section of thecombination,

safety water column, and apparatus for manipulating the pump, Fig. 2 ahorizontal section of the cap or top of the safety column, through linea of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 a vertical section of the casting which contains thevalve and connecting parts. Fig. 4 a horizontal section of the casting;Fig. 5 an end view of the same, Fig. 6 a perspective view of a portionof the valve. Fig. 7 a vertical section of the cylinder for operatingthe pump lever and the water column attached together. Fig.8 a frontView of the same. Fig. 9 an enlarged perspective view of the ports forthe duplex valves.

In the construction of my invention I have the safety water column andthe apparatus for manipulating the pump lever made separately, when theyare to be located at different places, in case that plan is found mostconvenient and in that case they are suitably connected by pipes. Suchconstruction is found in Fig. 1. When it is desirable and convenient,however, I can have the two parts formed together or cast in one piece,as shown in Fig. 7, and in that case I connect the pump, or injectorlever to the piston rod by means of connecting rod or by wire ropes. Inthe formercase I show the body A, Fig. 1 which forms the safety watercolumn, formed separately from the cylinder B, which latter cylinder isdesigned to manipulate the pump lever. The water column is composed ofthe vertically disposed shell having a tapering lower end 0, provided,on one side with the pipe D for connecting with the boiler helowlowwater stage, and the cock E below this pipe..

The cap isa dome shaped shell F, with a cen tral aperture G, for a pipe;or, if desired, connection may be made with the boiler above high waterstage at H instead of through the cap. h

At one side within the cap or dome F, is an enlargement I casttherewith, and this projects into the dome a short distance. Near itsinner end is a vertical hole J, which receives a round rod J that actsas the valve for controlling the flow of the steam. The lower end of therod has a series of holes K to receive therein the forwardly projectingpins- L. Ahorizontally disposed lever M hinged at its outer end to theside of the enlargement I, passes between the pins L, and has its innerend attached to the shank of the float N. When, therefore, the floatmoves up and down' the valve stemJ is carried therewith, and as the stemJ is nearer the fulcrum than the float shank, considerable purchase isgiven to the float in the process of moving the valve.

Through the enlargement I drill six holes from the outside, two ofwhich, the upper one 0 and the lower one 0' intersect the vertical valvehole J, these holes both passing entirely through the enlargement, whiletwo of the intermediate holes P, Q, terminate at the hole J and pass inslightly to one side of it. The two other holes P Q on the same plane asthe holes P, Q, terminate at the hole J on the other side. The valvestem J, has midway a notch K, so that normally the notch rests midwaybetween the holes P, Q. When the valve is in this position an annular V-shaped groove R is formed around the same at a point above the hole orpassage 0, anda similar groove below the passage 0, so that when forinstance, the float moves downward, the upper annular groove in thevalve stem is at the intersecting channel 0. At the same time the notchK is in line with the channel Q, Q, so that a way is formed from thechannel Q through the notch K, and thence out the channel Q, on theother side, while steam can pass through the channel 0 from the watercolumn A, to the cylinder B, as will now be shown.

It will be observed that the piston head S, has a yoke S on its rod,through which the pump or injector lever S passes, and in the positionshown the pump or injector has been cut off. The upper channel 0, isconnected with one end'of the cylinder B, by means of the pipe T, andthe lower channel 0 with-the other end of the cylinder by a pipe T. Theupper intermediate channel P is connected by pipe U with the same end ofthe cylinder that the upper channel 0 is connected with, and the lowerintermediate channel is connected by pipe U with the other end of thecylinder. The conditions, therefore are, that when the valve stem Jmoves down so that the steam is admitted from the dome F through thechannel or passage 0, the piston head S moves to the lef carrying withit the lever S thus throwing on the pump. When the valve stem is downthe notch K, as stated, connects the inner ends of the channels Q, Q, sothat there is no resistance in the cylinder B. As soon as the pumpraises the water in the boiler and the float moves upwardly to theposition shown in Fig. 8, the discharge ports or channels P Q, as wellas both supply channels 0 O are out 01f, and as soon as the float hasraised the valve stem, so that the lower annular groove R opens thechannel O, steam flows through the pipe T and moves back the piston headS thus automatically throwing the pump on and off as required by thestage of the water in the boiler. I particularly call attention to thelocation of the cylinder B, which is placed above the valve mechanism inthe dome F, so that any condensation which takes place in the cylinderwill flow out through the pipes U U into the enlargement I and thenceinto the discharge ports P Q.

In order to provide a signaling apparatus in connection with themovement of the piston I attach a bracket V to the end of the cylinderB, directly above the end of the lever S and place two oppositelydisposed bell crank levers thereon, which engage with the lever S Onelimb of each lever W engages with the mechanism in the hell or signalboX Y, so that when the piston rod starts to move in either direction,to throw on or olf the pump, the lever S will cause the bell to ring.This bell may be purely mechanical in its opera tion, or it may beanelectric bell or signaling device, and it can be located on the end ofthe cylinder as shown, or at any other suitable point.

Various modifications may be made in the form of the valve and itsconnections, without materially altering the character ofmyinvention,the main feature being to furnish suitable induction'andeduction tubes forchannelsfrom one end of the cylinder to the other asthe water in the boiler raises or lowers, and to cut olf these channelsduring any intermediate point, by which means the pump is keptin or outof operation until the stage of the water is such as to produce theaction of the cylinder. Should it be desired, however, at any any timeto move back the lever S by hand, it would be necessary to provide anexhaust -for the cylinder, and I accomplish this by connecting thechannels I? Q, as shown at Z, Fig. 5, and in placing through the side acock Z, so that by turning the same the air or steam will pass throughthe pipes U II, from one end of the cylinder to the other.

In the foregoing part of my specification special reference is made tothat form of construction wherein the cylinder 13, is made independentof the column which contains the floats and no reference has been madeto the immediate attachment of these two parts, nor to the employment ofduplex valve stems, and double floats. lVherever it is practicable Ifurnish the combined mechanism for this purpose in one piece, and thenrun a cord or wire from the piston rod to the pump lever. Thus, in Fig.7, the float column has the cylinderB cast with the cap and the block acontaining the ports, ways and the valves, depends from the under sideof the cap. Two vertically disposed valves 1) c, are placed through thebranch arms (I, e of this block, the lower valve being designed tocontrol low water and the upper valve high water. Each branch has a portwhich admits live steam, and both pass centrally through the valveapertures. The lower portf leads to the right hand end of the cylinderB, and the upper port g, to the left hand end of the cylinder. Theposition of the parts in Fig. 7 is supposed to represent live steampassing through the port f, and driving the piston to the left, thusthrowing on the pump. The lever h connected with the valve b, and towhich the float is attached, is

also connected, adj ustably to the upper lever 2' by means of a linkj,the lower end of which passes through thelever hand is screw-threadedand provided with a nut above and below the lever, h, so that thedownward motion of the lever will not affect the lever t', nor will alimited upward motion affect it, but should the water rise above itsnormal line the lever i would be raised and steam permitted to flowthrough the port g, to the cylinder thereby drawing back the piston, andcutting off the action of the pump.

The means for leading the steam and 0011- densation from the right endof the cylinder B, are shown by the port 70 which extends down to thevalve opening in the lower branch (I and on the other side of valveopening is a port 1 which opens out through the end of the cylinder fordischarging the steam. The upper branch 6 has a similar port m leadin gfrom the left end of the cylinder to the valve opening and from theother side of the opening a discharge port it. Each of these valves 5,c, has two annular grooves, as heretofore described in connection withthe other figures, so that when the stem is moved so that one of thegrooves admits steam to the cylinder the other groove'will be in linewith the discharge ports of the other end of the cylinder. It will thusbe seen that by means of the adjustable link the range of the low orhigh water line can be limited or varied at will; and to still furtherfacilitate the means for making this adjustment, I provide the wall ofthe column witha man-hole 0, so that the hand can be admitted to adjustthe nuts on the linkj.

It must be obvious that when the cylinder,

is permanently attached to the column, means should be provided forconnecting the piston rod with the pump. As direct connection cannot,frequently be made, I have supplied the cap with a bracket 19, on whichis a grooved pulley q, and if desired or necessary a cord may beattached to the piston rod and, passing over the pulley q, extend thenceto the pump. As a matter of convenience the piston rod passes throughboth heads of the cylinder so thata ready connection maybe made ateither end without difficulty.

The double valve mechanism with slight modifications may be employed inconnection with a steam whistle, without using the automatic pumpoperating mechanism. Such a device is shown in Fig. 10, and when soemployedl prefer to use a float with each valve. The high and low waterlinesv by theuse of this construction are necessarily much farther apartas the water in order to reach the upper float will entirely submergethe lower float, but it is designed to blow the whistle at both low andhigh water thuswarning the engineer who turns the pump on or off. Themechanism for doing this has already been described in detail and neednot therefore be repeated.

What I claim as new is V 1. In a boiler feeder, the combination of awater column having a portion of its casing thickened or enlarged andprojecting into the interior of the water column, in which projectionare steam passages opening at one end in the inner surface of the casingand at the other end in the outer surface of the casing,

and a valve way opening at both ends within the column and intersectingthe steam passages, with a grooved cylindrical valve slidlng in thevalve-way, a float, and operative connections between the valve and thefloat, substantially as described.

2. In a boiler feeder, the combination of a water column having aportion of its casing thickened or enlarged and projecting into theinterior of the water column, in which projection are steam passagesopening at one end in the inner surface of the casing and at the other'end in the outer surface of the casing,

a valve way opening at both ends within the column, and intersecting thesteam passages, and other steam passages opening at one end in the valveway and at the other end in the '70 outer surface of the casing, withafloat anda grooved cylindrical valve sliding in the valve way andarranged to rise and fall with the float, substantially as described.

3. In a boiler feeder, the combination of a 7 5 water column having aportion of its casing thickened or enlarged and projecting into theinterior of the water column, in which projection'are steam passagesopening at one end in the inner'surface of the casing and at the otherend in the outer surface of the casing, and a valve way opening at bothends within the column and intersecting the steam passages, with agrooved cylindrical valve sliding in the valve Way, a float, operativeconnections between the boiler and the float, a

steam cylinder having steam connections with the Valve block of thewater column, and a signaling device arranged to be operated by thepiston head of said cylinder, substantially as described. I v

4. In a boiler feeder, the combination of a water column, steam passagesthrough the casing thereof, a valve way intersecting said passages, afloat, a lever actuated thereby, 5 and a valve having a stem providedwith a series of holes for the adjustment of the point of application ofsaid lever to said stem, substantially as described.

5. In a boiler feeder, the combination with 00 a steam cylinder, ofacasing, a valve block therein, ports through said block connected tothe opposite chambers of said cylinder, a

passage connecting said ports, and a cock controllingsaid passage,whereby the cham- 1o 5 bers of said cylinder may be simultaneouslyexhausted, substantially as described.

Signed at Brooklyn,in the county of Kings, and State of New York, this22d day ofOct-oher, A. D. 1890.

FRANK M. ASHLEY. Witnesses:

J. S. ZERBE, I. S. ELKINS.

